CL Match Preview: Arsenal vs Dinamo Zagreb

22.01.2025
Written by Jacob Burt


Our final home match of the league phase in the Champions League sees us face Croatian juggernauts Dinamo Zagreb.


After more than a month since our last Champions League outing against AS Monaco, the re-introduction of European football has come at the perfect time for us.

Although we remain undefeated in the Premier League since the start of November, there continues to be ongoing discourse regarding the squad's performances and what the remainder of the season might hold for us.

A victory over Zagreb on Wednesday night will hold us in good stead to automatically progress to the Round of 16, thereby avoiding a two-legged play-off in mid-February. Success in the Champions League is the pinnacle of club football and should be a priority, especially considering our current position in domestic football.

Dinamo Zagreb have reigned supreme in Croatian football, winning 18 of the last 19 league titles. The Blues occupy the final play-off place in the league phase, meaning even a single point could be vital to securing a play-off tie for qualification to the Round of 16.

Having suffered a 9-2 defeat to Bayern Munich in the opening match week, many may have written Zagreb off. However, two wins and two draws in their next five matches have left them with a fighting chance.
 

Dubious Dinamo

This will be Fabio Cannavaro's first competitive game in charge of Zagreb after his appointment in late December. The Italian World Cup winner joins the club after a brief spell at Udinese in Serie A and will be the clubs tenth permanent manager in the last five years.

Zagreb find themselves in third place, seven points behind league leaders Rijeka in the Croatian top flight. Rijeka were the last team to prevent Dinamo from winning the title, all the way back in 2017. To be so far off the pace in the league they've dominated for so long is highly unusual, especially given the fact they won the league by eight points last season.

Cannavaro will be looking for an instant impact as he prepares his team to face us on Wednesday night. A win could be all they need to secure their place in the top 24.
 

What the manager says

Mikel Arteta:

On how important it'll be to avoid the play-off round: "So far, we've done really well, we're in a really strong position and now it's time to capitalise at home on the work we've done for many months. We need a strong performance against a really strong side and we will try to do that."

On Fabio Cannavaro's appointment: "We know the friendly games that they've played and we watched them to just try and gather ideas, more principles and systems than formations because Fabio's played different formations when he was in China to Italy and now as well. To actually know understand what they're going to do and know the idea behind it, we'll adapt to that tomorrow."

On the knock-on effects of moving players from midfield like Partey to right-back: "I had no choice, I didn't have another right full-back, just Jurrien [Timber], nobody else. Who plays when Jurrien Timber isn't available or his load is too high?"
 

Team News

Key players Riccardo Calafiori and Ethan Nwaneri were both seen to have returned to training prior to Mikel's press conference.

Mikel stated their return was "very positive news" and announced they will be available for Wednesday night's clash against Zagreb.

The boss also revealed that William Saliba, who missed Sunday's draw versus Aston Villa, is "evolving well" and he "hopes" he will be back for our clash with Manchester City next week.

He also shared that Ethan Nwaneri's injury was a "big setback because he was getting some consistency and more minutes." Nwaneri was also tasked with playing in Bukayo Saka's role, which he began to execute excellently. His return will help relieve some of the strain on our attackers, who have had limited opportunities for rotation.

Saka, Gabriel Jesus, Ben White and Takehiro Tomiyasu remain unavailable.
 

Statistics and Facts

Dinamo Zagreb was our first-ever opponent in a European game at the Emirates Stadium, back in 2006. We emerged victorious that night with a 2-1 win.

Kai Havertz will be searching for back-to-back Champions League goals at the Emirates. The German has three goals in six Champions League appearances so far this season.

Saliba is set to miss his first minutes in the Champions League this season. The ever-present centre-back has played all 540 minutes this season.

Despite sitting 24th in the league phase, Dinamo Zagreb are joint 15th-highest scorers (10), highlighting their struggles are with conceding too many at the other end.

We've won three of our four matches against Zagreb in the Champions League (L1).

Dinamo Zagreb's away record in England is far from impressive, with eight losses in ten visits (W1, D1). Their solitary victory came against West Ham in the 2021/22 Europa League group stage.
 

Match Officials

German referee Daniel Siebert will officiate our clash with Dinamo Zagreb on Wednesday night.

He officiates in both the Bundesliga and across Europe. So far this season, he has overseen two Champions League fixtures: PSG vs Girona and Sporting CP vs Manchester City.

He issued 10 yellow cards across both matches.

He awarded a remarkable three penalty kicks in Sporting's 4-1 demolition over Man City.
 

Referee: Daniel Siebert (GER)

Assistants: Jan Siedel (GER), Rafael Foltyn (GER)

VAR: Christian Dingert (GER)

Assistant VAR: Bram Van Driessche (BEL)

Fourth official: Daniel Schlager (GER)